Of course Cuomo got away with it
Despite saying that accusations against the former New York governor were “credible,” the Albany district attorney said Cuomo won't be prosecuted for allegedly groping an employee.
Andrew Cuomo may have given up his governorship, but it appears he won’t face legal action for allegedly abusing his office. On Tuesday, Albany County District Attorney David Soares announced that his office will not move forward with prosecuting a criminal case against the disgraced former governor of New York. Soares said that while the accusations made against Cuomo by a former aide, who alleged that the governor groped her at the Executive Mansion in December 2020, were “credible,” there was not enough evidence to criminally charge Cuomo.
“While many have an opinion regarding the allegations against the former governor, the Albany County D.A.’s office is the only one who has a burden to prove the elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt,” Soares said in a statement. “While we found the complainant in this case cooperative and credible, after review of all the available evidence we have concluded that we cannot meet our burden at trial.”
This marks the third instance of state prosecutors opting not to charge Cuomo. Last month, the district attorneys in Nassau and Westchester counties similarly announced that they would not attempt to try the former governor based on allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment. Nassau County, on Long Island, was initially looking into a case in which a state trooper accused Cuomo of inappropriately touching her while she was protecting him during a 2019 event. The Westchester district attorney’s office, which oversees the county just north of New York City, was looking into charges that Cuomo kissed two women who did not invite his advances. In both cases, the attorneys described the allegations as “credible” but not criminal.
These dismissals suggest that Cuomo will ultimately escape his harassment scandal without any criminal charges — despite the fact that all of the public allegations have been viewed as credible so far, as well as the fact that the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, issued a 165-page report that provided evidence from several victims and nearly 200 witnesses who corroborated accounts of Cuomo behaving badly.
Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior by 11 women — mostly state employees, including some who worked in the governor’s office. While Cuomo spent months denying the allegations, he eventually came to say that he will “accept full responsibility” for his own behavior when he stepped down from the governorship in August 2021.
Despite this supposed acceptance of responsibility, it appears Cuomo won’t actually be held responsible for his actions in the courts. Sure, he and his brother — Chris Cuomo, who reportedly tried to help his brother defend himself from the accusations — are laughingstocks now, but the victims of Cuomo’s actions deserve justice. It looks like they won’t get any help in that area from the state’s prosecutors.
